To Catch a Thief (1955)

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106 min – PG – view video trailer

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Romance

IMDB 7.5 / Amazon 4.6 / MRQE 76 / Tomatometer 94%

Oscars: Nominated for 3, won 1 (Best Cinematography)

When a reformed jewel thief is suspected of returning to his former occupation, he must ferret out the real thief in order to prove his innocence. IMDB 7.5 from over 30,591 users

Cary Grant plays John Robie reformed jewel thief who was once known as The Cat in this suspenseful Alfred Hitchcock classic thriller. Robie is suspected of a new rash of gem thefts in the luxury hotels of the French Riviera and he must set out to clear himself. Meeting pampered heiress Frances (Grace Kelly) he sees a chance to bait the mysterious thief with her mother’s fabulous jewels. His plan backfires however but France who believes him guilty proves her love by helping him escape. In a spine-tingling climax the real criminal is exposed. Amazon 4.6 stars from over 384 users

A jewel thief is at large on the Riviera, and all evidence points to retired cat burglar Cary Grant. Escaping the law, Grant heads to the Cote D’Azur, where he is greeted with hostility by his old partners in crime. All of them had been pardoned due to their courageous activities in the wartime Resistance, and all are in danger of arrest thanks to this new crime wave. But Grant pleads innocence, and vows to find out who’s been copying his distinctive style. Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 94% Audience 82%

MRQE 76% from over 68 reviews

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfyrCCcZFlc]

Rear window (1954)

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112 min – PG – view video trailer

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Thriller

IMDB 8.7 / Amazon 4.7 / MRQE 97 /

Oscars: nominated for 4, won 0 (Best Director, Writing, Sound, Cinematography)

Ranked #7 Greatest Movies Through 1960, in 24 of 41 best movies lists, a Zagat Top Movie

A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.  IMDB 8.7 rating from over 168,196 users

None of Hitchcock’s films has ever given a clearer view of his genius for suspense than Rear Window. Events in the movie ultimately lead to one of the most memorable and gripping endings in all of film history. Amazon 4.7 stars from over 372 users

MRQE 97% from over 108 reviews

Madison Public Library

High Noon (1952)

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85 min – view video trailer

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell

Genres: Drama, Western

IMDB 8.2 / Amazon 4.5 / MRQE 92% / Decent Films A

Oscars: nominated for 7, won 4: Best Actor (Gary Cooper), Song (Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington), Music (Dimitri Tiomkin), Film Editing (Elmo Williams, Harry Gerstad) / nominated: Best Picture, Director (Fred Zinnemann), Writing/Screenplay (Carl Foreman)

Ranked #47 Greatest Movies Through 1960, a Zagat Top Movie

A marshall, personally compelled to face a returning deadly enemy, finds that his own town refuses to help him. IMDB rating: 8.2 from over 45,458 users

Innovative for its time, the suspenseful story unfolds in approximate real time (from 10:40 a.m. to high noon in an 84-minute film), and many interpreted Foreman’s drama as an allegorical reflection of apathy and passive acceptance of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anticommunist campaign. Political underpinnings aside, this remains a milestone of its genre (often referred to as the first “adult” Western), and Cooper is flawless in his Oscar-winning role. Amazon 4.5 stars from over 219 users

A mounting sense of dread and inevitability hangs over Fred Zinnemann’s grim, downbeat Western classic High Noon, a black-and-white anti-spectacle about an aging lawman who receives a series of nasty shocks on the day he tries to hang up his gunbelt and begin a new life. Read full Decent Films review: rated A, Superb artistic-entertainment for Teens & Up

MRQE – over 72 reviews linked with a score of 92

Oscars won (4 of 7): Best Actor (Gary Cooper), Song (Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington), Music (Dimitri Tiomkin), Film Editing (Elmo Williams, Harry Gerstad) / nominated: Best Picture, Director (Fred Zinnemann), Writing/Screenplay (Carl Foreman)

Madison Public Library